ARSENAL LOSE ART
Gunners go cold on former star.. and Spaniard Emery now poised for hot seat
ARSENAL went cold on Mikel Arteta at the 11th hour – and are set to name Unai Emery as their new manager.
Club officials met Arteta last week and by Friday the former Gunners captain believed he was going to be offered the job. But Arsenal went quiet
over the weekend and former Paris Saint-Germain boss Emery flew into London for talks yesterday.
Chief executive Ivan Gazidis is now in negotiations with the 46-year-old Spaniard, who is expected to be unveiled in the next 48 hours.
It is a huge blow for Arteta – who is on Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City – as he is believed to have interviewed well and discussed a contract.
But the Emirates hierarchy feared a possible backlash from fans about making such an inexperienced appointment to replace Arsene Wenger and have done a last minute U-turn.
They had been ready to offer
Arteta a deal worth £12million over three years with a break clause after 12 months.
Arsenal insist they wanted to talk to all of the candidates before making an appointment and that Emery was spoken to before, although the former Sevilla boss was quoted last week as saying there had been no contact from Arsenal.
It appears as if the Gunners have put experience above Arteta’s ambition and enthusiasm. Emery won three back-to-back Europa League titles while in charge of Sevilla.
JSANTI CAZORLA is leaving Arsenal after coming to the end of his contract.
The 33-year-old made 180 appearances following his signing from Malaga in 2012, scoring 29 goals. He has not played since an Achilles injury in October 2016.